At NIU’s opening football game against the University of South Florida Thursday night, spectators will have a chance to both show school spirit and partake in a

22-year tradition.

The Newman Catholic Student Center, the NIU athletic department and Del Monte will be sponsoring the annual corn boil. People attending the game will receive free buttered or unbuttered corn.

“Every year for the first game we distribute free corn,” said Jennifer Feuerborn, campus minister for the Newman Catholic Student Center. “It’s a long-standing

tradition between the three organizations.”

The corn will be distributed between 3:30 and 6:30 p.m. on the west side of the Huskie Stadium.

“It’s a tradition that people look forward to,” said campus minister Terry Beer. “Sometimes people come to us with buckets to fill up so they can give to those in

their tent.”

The 3,500 ears of corn are donated by local farms of Del Monte, a produce corporation.

All of the corn is cooked and prepared by either students, parish members of the Newman Center, or citizens of DeKalb, Beer said.

They usually have an hour-long shift with about 20 people per shift.

“The corn is boiled for about 10 to 15 minutes,” Beer said. “Then it takes a couple minutes to butter and wrap it. Each ear of corn takes about 15 minutes to prepare.”

For more information or to volunteer to help, call the Newman Center at 787-7770.

“The goal is just to have fun,” Feuerborn said. “We want the Newman Center to have an active role on campus — so come out and enjoy the free corn.”